Colorado’s Travis Hunter wins the 2024 Heisman Trophy in the closest race since 2009

Travis Hunter’s historic season has fittingly ended with the Heisman Trophy.

Colorado’s star defensive back and wide receiver was named the 2024 Heisman winner Saturday night ahead of Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty, Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel and Miami QB Cam Ward.

Hunter received 552 of 901 first-place votes, followed by Jeanty with 309, Gabriel with 24 and Ward with six. The total vote was much closer than expected, with Hunter edging out Jeanty by a total of 2,231 to 2,017 points.

It is the narrowest margin for the price since 2009when Mark Ingram edged out Toby Gerhart in another race where quarterbacks were not in the top two.

In his acceptance speech, Hunter profusely thanked God, his parents, his girlfriend, his teammates, his coaches, his teachers and, of course, Colorado supporter Lil Wayne.

What Hunter did in 2024 was unprecedented in modern college football history. He was a constant presence for Colorado on offense and defense, excelling on both ends.

Hunter hauled in 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 TDs while also rushing for another score on offense. On defense, Hunter had four interceptions, 11 passes defensed and made over 30 tackles. His stats could have been better as well, but he missed significant portions of two games with a shoulder injury.

The junior is the first player since 2020 Alabama WR DeVonta Smith to win the Heisman while not playing quarterback and just the fifth non-quarterback since the turn of the century to hoist the award. The other previous non-QB winners in the 2000s are Smith, Alabama RB Derrick Henry (2015), Alabama RB Mark Ingram (2009) and USC RB Reggie Bush (2005).

Hunter the human highlight reel

Since arriving in Colorado in 2023, Hunter has made countless ridiculous plays for the Buffaloes. In September, he made a game-saving play in overtime against Baylor. After Colorado miraculously sent the game to OT with a Hail Mary, Hunter forced a fumble at the goal line to give Colorado the win.

A week later, he made a great break on the ball for a diving interception against UCF.

In November, Hunter made this absurd fourth-down catch between two defenders against Utah to set up a touchdown by Will Sheppard on the next play.

Hunter had at least nine catches in six of Colorado’s 12 games this season and scored a TD in eight of them. As Jeanty made a late-season charge for the single-season rushing record, Hunter scored five touchdowns over Colorado’s final two games.

He had eight catches for 125 yards and two scores in a loss to Kansas and followed that up with 10 catches for 116 yards and three scores in a blowout win over Oklahoma State to end the season. In case there was any doubt who the Heisman would be on Black Friday, Hunter erased it with a touchdown and an interception in the first quarter of the game.

How Hunter’s season compares to previous two-way players

Hunter is not the first player in modern college football to play both cornerback and wide receiver. But he is the one who has done it best.

Along with 1997 Heisman winner Charles Woodson, Georgia’s Champ Bailey and Ohio State’s Chris Gamble played both positions for their power conference schools. And only Bailey has come close to putting up the stats that Hunter did. Bailey had 47 catches for 744 yards and five touchdowns along with 16 carries for 84 yards in 1998. He did that while also returning kicks for the Bulldogs and being a shutdown corner. Bailey had three interceptions that season and finished seventh in Heisman voting behind winner Ricky Williams and five quarterbacks.

A few years later, Gamble made his mark as an offensive and defensive threat. When Ohio State won the national title at the end of the 2022 season, Gamble had 31 catches for 499 yards while grabbing four interceptions on defense. He also added 46 kickoff and punt returns, although he scored just two total touchdowns.

Woodson won the Heisman 27 years ago starring on the defensive side of the ball. He had 11 catches for 231 yards and two scores during his Heisman-winning season.

The unique path of the hunter

Hunter’s recruitment was the most unique of the 2022 recruiting cycle. The Georgia native was a unanimous five star and no. 1 recruit in the country, according to Rivals. He was listed as an athlete because of his ability to play both receiver and cornerback at a high level and had scholarship offers from blue-blood programs across the country.

Instead, Hunter chose to play at college football’s second level in the FCS. Hunter signed with Jackson State and coach Deion Sanders as the Pro Football Hall of Famer entered his third season with the school and the Tigers had gone 11-2 in 2021.

Jackson State went undefeated during the 2022 regular season, with both Hunter and Shedeur Sanders starring. At the end of the regular season, the elder Sanders was named the coach at Colorado, and both Hunter and Shedeur (along with safety Shilo Sanders) followed him to Boulder.

Hunter would have had a fascinating Heisman case in 2023 if he had played in all of Colorado’s games. Hunter missed three games after suffering a lacerated liver after being hit by a Colorado State player. Over nine games in 2023, Hunter had 57 catches for 721 yards and had 30 tackles and three interceptions. However, Colorado went 4-8 and lost all but one of its games in conference play after a 3-0 start to the season.

This year, the Buffs took significant strides on both sides of the ball. Colorado bounced back from a Week 2 loss to Nebraska to win three straight before an October loss to Kansas State. The Buffaloes then won five of their final six games to move into first place in the Big 12, but they lost a four-way tiebreaker thanks to their Week 13 loss to Kansas.

Hunter has made it clear he’s headed to the NFL after the season and is a likely top-five pick, even if he ends up playing one position exclusively professionally. But fans will likely get another chance to see him play collegiately. Colorado plays BYU in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28, and Deion Sanders has said both Hunter and Shedeur will attend the game.